Die before you can live completely
by Arosain
Summary: Mutant Tony. He discovers that he has telekinesis... as well as another power.
1. DBYCLC 1

A/N Hi again, this is my first fic of mutant Tony. I haven't watched like any X-men movies so bear with me if their personalities aren't correct. :]

Crossover between Avengers and X-men

I don't own Marvel

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Fuck Howard. That fool of a father had shown up out of the blue when he hadn't seen Tony for two fucking years and told him he was sending him to high school. That wasn't even the worst part. He said that he was going to school as Tony Jonhson! Just cause he couldn't bear it if he embarrassed him and said that he might "ruin the Stark's image" Some image that was with Howard being a notorious playboy and all that. The news was always full of the new hot girl that he had taken to bed in a drunken stupor, so what if Tony did some shit at school, Stark's name was already corrupted by his father. And he had to choose Jonhson as a last name. The most typical last name in the whole universe. He couldn't get more original than that? Life fucking sucked to be him.

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Miramonte high school. The school he would go to for the next 4 years. He even had his own house in the small town. Others would call that awesome, getting to live by himself but Tony knew that it was because his father didn't want to see his face, even if he wasn't home most of the time. He was mostly alone in their huge mansion as when his dad was there, he was still usually working and when they met, it wasn't because his dad wanted to spend time with him. His dad was always mad with something he did. He builds a circuit board, big fucking deal, his dad wanted him to build heat-seeking missiles. He was four for god's sake! But what did his dad care? Exactly, he didn't, but he still had to go along with what his dad wanted or else he would never let Tony take over the business and he really wanted to continue it. He might not like his dad but that doesn't mean that he loved what Howard did. Building weapons was his life, or, it was all Tony knew how to do. He grew up learning about building programming, creating shells. Calculating how to make thrusters so that the rocket could fire properly or calculating the circumference of a bullet just right to fit snugly in a gun barrel. That was what he grew up doing. He didn't really have another option. If he branched off, leaving the weapons industry, the press would eventually find where he was and that was something he didn't want because he would become the center of a new stupid controversy of some kind involving him and his dad. Stark industries was the only option he had. So he bore the insults, anger and hate from his father. He would go to this school for his father, would bear it just to spite him.

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"Tony, would you like to introduce yourself to the class?"

"Hello, I'm Tony Johnson, I'm 10, and um I've skipped um like 5 years school?" Oh god, that was terrible. "Um, I come from Malibu… but I'm living here now" Cause my dad hates me_. "_I… am a genius? Um, yeah, that's me," he finished, now just awkwardly standing there, fiddling with his hands. He sat down and pretended to doodle with a pen, but he was focusing on the 20 some students staring at him. The class seemed pretty shell shocked by his little introduction.

"Well… Tony, it's nice to meet you, since you are coming here in the middle of the school year, I have some quizzes for you to do so I can see what your level is."

"Well, I have a Lexile reading level higher than 2000L. I know every single country in the world, actually, I've been to most of them. Most of the smaller, non-threatening countries are kind of useless to visit, there's nothing much in them. Um, I can write essays about pretty much everything military you can discuss, also about math. History… I can name most important historical events." He said, pondering. There was almost nothing his dad hadn't taught him, and what he meant by taught is hiring a professional in that area and not appearing until after lessons to quiz him and pay the tutor. He had the money, not the patience to teach his kid.

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He sighed, opening the door to the dark house and turning on the lights, bathing the mansion with harsh, mechanical light. Wincing at the sudden brightness, he tossed his backpack off and stumbled to the couch, collapsing on the expensive leather. His dad hating him didn't mean that he wouldn't get a house for Tony, everywhere he went a condo or mansion awaited him. His dad was a multi-billionaire, he had the money to spend and he didn't want to be associated with his son living in bad conditions so he always got a house for him. Tony liked to travel so there were hundreds of homes owned by the Starks all around the world.

After his little speech in Core, the teacher had still given him homework, the other teachers were the same, they didn't really believe him. It didn't matter how much they gave him though, he would just let JARVIS read it and he would do it all for him. Technically, Tony made JARVIS so it counted as him doing it, but Tony had given JARVIS the use of the entire internet, so it wasn't all him. What did Tony care about doing it all by himself, he had other things to do and homework wasn't important enough for him to bother with. His photographic memory would allow him to remember most things he learned so if it was important enough, JARVIS would tell him, and he would remember it. No problem and he had promised his dad he would give him new weapons blueprints every week, so as he said, he had other things to do.

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A/N Please tell me how you like it. Reviews!


	2. DBYCLC 2

A/N Hi people of the internet! Hope you like this chapter

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It happened around a month after he moved to Orinda, his first encounter with death. A raccoon had been tearing into the trash for the past week and Tony had finally cornered the little bastard. The little thing had annoyed him close to madness as any trap he tried to set up was never set off and each week, he had to clean up trash that spilled when the raccoon got to it. He was really angry. God, it was so annoying, just die already. He was, to say the least, surprised when the raccoon let out a whine and burned up, bursting into flames, the ashes blowing away from the wind. Then he panicked. He knew he was a mutant. There was no other option, he had killed that raccoon. This was bad, really bad. His father hated mutants with a passion. He was always ranting about how unnatural and gross they were. If his father knew… no, he would never find out, if he did… that would end him.

After that incident, he tried not to get angry at anyone or thing, terrified that he would kill them and get caught. He didn't know how he did it and he was too scared to try again so he kept away from any circumstance like that of when he killed the raccoon. He also combed the web for any information that could explain his powers, desperate for a way to learn to control his power. There weren't many websites as any that Howard found were instantly taken down but he did find a few, they were either ones about how mutants should be eradicated and things like that, or just on the most common powers like telepathy and telekinesis. Nothing showed a hint about someone being able to vaporize an animal. He suspected it was something to do with telekinesis as he was only thinking about killing it, but he had tried to lift a pen with his mind and it just stayed still, not moving on the table. So, probably not entirely telekinesis, but something to do with it.

Then, sitting on the couch, pondering other possibilities, he sat up, realizing something. Xavier's school for the Gifted. His father always complained about them as they were the biggest collection of mutants and he couldn't in all of his power, get rid of them as they were so large of a group. Lots of people knew about them and it would be suspicious if the entire group just disappeared off the surface of the earth. It was a perfect place to get answers. He had to be careful though, if his father found out…

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Tony stood before the mansion's gate, gazing up at the huge, old structure ahead of him. He'd seen a lot of mansions and lived in quite a few, but they were all very pristine and clean, too sterile. This one was old and overgrown with vines, it looked very regal though, like a well lived-in home as it probably was. When he remembered this place, he went back online and found out it was in New York. Sending a message to his father that he was going to Boston again and stay with some friends, he flew over there. His dad was mad, to say the least, but he wasn't as mad as if Tony had said that he was a mutant and he was going to the most hated school of Howard's to learn to control his powers. He flew to Boston and drove from there to Manchester, New York, where the school was. Breathing in, he pressed the doorbell.

"Hello, who are you and what do you want from us?" A woman's voice spoke from the speakers.

"Um, I'm a new mutant," Tony replied, not sure on what to say, he couldn't upright day that he was Tony Stark, Howard had made sure that the mutant community knew he hated them. Whoever was on the other side of the line would never let him in knowing who he was.

"Alright, come right in and come upstairs into Professor Xavier's room," The voice responded.

"Thank you," He said, walking through the opening gates. As he walked through the path to the house, he saw other people playing. Some stopped and watched him walk up to the building, it made him uncomfortable and he hid his face in the hood of the jacket he was wearing. Going into the house, he was greeted by people of various ages rushing around. Some were children and some fully grown adults. The variation was huge. Some also had animal tails or ears, or some with telekinesis were floating around. In awe at the collection of mutants, he shouldered through people and climbed up the stairs.

"Hello?" He asked tentatively, knocking on the door that's plate said, Professor Xavier. He'd heard talking behind the door, but they quieted when he knocked.

"Come in," A voice called out from behind the door.

Opening the door, he first stuck his head through, and then stepped in, gazing at the two people at the other side of the room. One of them was a young man, probably in his 30s, who was in a wheelchair. Long brown hair fell to his shoulders and his dark blue eyes stared at him. The other guy was a buff looking guy, a little older than Tony, who had the most bizarre haircut ever. The hair stood up in two clumps on his head. Frowning at the younger guy, he greeted who he assumed was Xavier, the guy in the wheelchair. "Hi, I'm Tony," He said, shaking the outstretched hand.

"Welcome to my school of learning, I'm Professor Xavier, you can call me Charles," he greeted. "Why are you here?"

"Well, um..." He stuttered, he didn't know how to explain his position to him.

"Oh, so I see, that is a quite large predicament you are in." Charles said, frowning.

"What?" Tony asked, confused.

"He's a telepath," the other one growled. Actually _growled. _

Tony shuddered. "Oh… um so yea, can you help me?" Tony asked. _Please, my dad will find out if I can't control it. _

"I will, nobody is to know who you are, though, that would cause mayhem. Logan, you and I are the only ones to know the real you… How about your name at school? Tony Johnson. There, perfect. I will teach you and no one will know who you are," Xavier said to Tony. Great, another place he'd have to go by that stupid fake name, it was worth it though. To keep the secret from his dad, it would have to do.

For the next few years, Tony came and went from the school, he still had to show up at Miramonte and he did, he was there around half of each school year, he still had As though, any work they sent him, he would have it done by the next day. The other kids had a rumor that he was a spy or something and never really made the effort to be friends with him. That was good, he spent lunches hiding away and practicing his ability. After some testing, Charles confirmed it was almost telekinesis. He had manifested in a way that made it look like he could have control over death. He was also a very powerful mutant, Professor Xavier had said because the amount of willpower it took to control the telekinesis in the way that he did. The crumbling to ash thing was just an in the moment, subconscious decision. He did have power over people's lives, when he started practicing, it was on little animals like a vole or rat. It felt like pulling out a hair, just plucking the life out of it. Sometimes it would burst into flames, or the animal would just crumble, or the blood leaked out of it. There were many different ways they died. It wasn't in Tony's control yet, but the Professor said with time, he could pick how they died. It was weird to discuss it, and even more uncomfortable to use the ability. He had to find another animal each time as they died, it wasn't like he could revive them. Not that he knew anyways. Practicing the normal powers of telekinesis was, a little easier. Since he first manifested when he killed the raccoon, the ability to kill someone was always there, moving things, he had to reach further inside of him and it really strained him to move anything at all. It was easier though, in a way, there were more accessible things to practice on, unlike his other power that needed something alive to work on.

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Slowly by slowly, he managed to control the power to be able to use it when he wanted to and not hurt anyone or give himself away. It was only when he was really drunk, he found that his powers got out of hand. He had blanked out after a party, really drunk, he woke up in the forest, the trees were shriveled up around him and there were some corpses of squirrels, rats, and other small animals littered on the ground. They didn't appear to have any physical damage to them, but Tony, after wrapping his mind around theirs, determined they were dead as there was no brain activity. That was when he'd sworn against ever being that drunk again. He was too scared of the consequences if he did that again. Fear was what compelled him most times, fear that he would be discovered, fear that he would be hated, fear that no one _human_ would understand him. As he got older, his power manifested even more, he got to where it only took a mere thought to explode a rock or set a bush on fire. It was really destructive, raw power. It was hidden under the fact that he was not mentally strong enough to handle the entirety of the power. At first, it appeared a powerful version of telekinesis. Now, after he grew stronger, it was confirmed that he had the raw power of life's essence. Charles couldn't teach him really anymore as he had grown even more powerful than the professor. He did help with controlling it though. Every now and then, he would go to the school to train again. He didn't have other opportunities to train as the press was crawling all over him when he was in public. He had graduated from Miramonte and had applied, and was accepted to MIT. They also found out he was undercover at the school and going outside of his mansion without bumping into a reporter was impossible. Now was also a perfect time, as it was summer, he had no school. In fall, he would move to Massachusetts and would have no time other than school. He would be Tony Stark there and he was bound to get caught if he tried to leave. Right then though, since the Starks had a private plane, he lost them in the air and since the school had a landing pad for their plane, the Blackbird, Tony landed there, planning on staying there for the summer and going back when he had to attend MIT.

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A/N Reviews please, i really don't know where im going with this story


	3. DBYCLC 3

A/N Hi again, this is the new chapter, enjoy!

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"You know I'm going easy on you right?" He said, panting as he looked up at Jean who hadn't even broken a sweat yet. They had been dueling to try and get Tony's stamina up.

"Yea, but we are focusing on telekinesis, not obliterate everyone and thing in a 10-mile radius." She smirked. True… but he had great control over the powers and telekinesis just wasn't his strongest suit.

"Hey, you only have two powers to worry about. I can't just always focus on practicing one like telekinesis. And I have never done that, I've killed little animals, not a single human yet." He protested. _Yet, he hadn't… yet. _That was the catch, yet. It was bound to happen though. Since he could control his surroundings, he could also sense them and it helped him get away from any dangerous situation, and there had been a lot recently. He was very cautious, but it was going to happen sooner or later, everyone knew that.

"Well, yours counts as 2, one is just more versatile," She responded. "You need to learn how to control your telekinesis better, what if you need to save someone, not kill them? You can't use… your other power," she said.

Wiping his face with a hand towel, he sighed. "You guys are pretty powerful as well. My telekinesis will probably never get as powerful as yours, Charles is the most powerful telepath, like ever, Scott shoots fuckin _lasers_ out of his eyes, Logan… " He ranted.

"Yea, yea I get it, we can carry our own weight, but what about people that aren't mutants?" She asked. He paused, "I don't have anyone other than you guys," he said. It was mostly true, he spent his free time talking to them, there was the problem of his mom, but she was with Howard, Tony couldn't get anywhere near her. He had nobody else, no one…

"You will though," she said softly. "You can't hide here forever Tony, you have a life outside of us."

"Yea… my life consists of making weapons that kill people, no one likes someone like that so that pretty much ruins any life outside of here. You guys are my family, forever." He said, Jean knew his real identity as she being a telepath, she would have found out now or later. _I love you guys._

"I love you too Tony," She smiled. "Go back inside before someone sees you… aren't you working on a new wheelchair for Charles?" She asked, motioning for him to go back inside.

"No fair, don't tell him, reading my mind is off-limits, it was supposed to be a secret," he pouted and then grinned. He missed this, dueling with Jean or Scott, arguing with Logan, inventing with Hank. This was what he leaves, and what he comes back to, his family. A rowdy bunch at that, but still family. People that really care about him. People that understand him, truly understand the boy underneath instead of the fake arrogant image he had fabricated for himself. Honestly? The press did most of it. He didn't go out much, so they started rumors that he was hosting very selective secret parties and multiple people had actually gone to a news center and claimed to be in one. He never did that, he went to _one_ party, it wasn't even his own. Everyone wanted the drama and secrets, they never got anything from them, so they made up their own. Too bad they didn't know that Tony was actually keeping the biggest secret of all, that he was a mutant.

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He walked inside, bumping into Charles. "Hey, what are you doing?" He asked, worried as Charles just stared at him with a downcast and sad expression.

"I'm so sorry Anthony," He said, gazing to the living room.

Panicking, he ran there, thoughts racing through his head. What had happened, who was waiting for him that Charles seemed so crestfallen? Howard? Please no.

Time seemed to stop as he stopped, there was no one in the room, but that wasn't what he was looking at. The small TV that the school owned was tuned to a news channel, but that also wasn't what he was staring at. It was the headlines, Howard and Maria Stark die in Car Accident. _No, it couldn't be true, Howard he didn't care a flying fuck but his mother… No. _He barely heard the newswoman speaking, or Charles hand trying to comfort him. All he could feel was shock. No, it couldn't be. This was a mistake, there must have been a couple that looked like them or something. Mind racing at alternative possibilities he sat down, a glazed look in his eyes. Curling up into a ball, he cried for the first time in five years.

"Tony," he heard someone say. Crawling away from the voice he screamed, "Get away from me!" Breathing heavily now, he shrunk back into a ball. The shock from the news was wearing off and all he could feel was sorrow. His mother, dead. She was the one that comforted him after another one of Howard's episodes, she was the one that took care of him, often shouting back at Howard after she found out. He got his attitude and courage from her. She was so strong, helping him even though she knew Howard would punish her. She helped him bear through life, even when dealing with her own. He was full-on hyperventilating now, trying his hardest to breathe properly as the blood vessels restricted oxygen from his brain.

"Tony, listen to me, you need to calm down, you are hyperventilating right now," the voice said again, back at his side. _I already know that. _He was getting even worse as he broke down in cold sweat. "Tony come on," another voice said. "GO AWAY!" He shouted, losing control, he let out a wave of power, pure misery poured out of him. He faintly heard bodies thudding against the ground. Panicking he hurt them, he tried to get up, but the exhaustion from releasing that much power and just having a huge panic attack, he collapsed.

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A/N and this is where I apologize, sorryyyyyy, its too easy to kill people in these stories, I will fix it though in the next chapter, look forward to it please!


	4. DBYCLC 4

A/N Hi... I posted again.

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Groaning, he opened his eyes, seeing only white. What happened to him? Surprised, he sat up, the blanket falling off of him. Looking around, he found he was in the medical room. There was another bed with someone in it, another white blanket over it. Why was he here? Suddenly, everything that happened rushed together to the front of Tony's mind. His mom, panic attack, voices, he screamed, bodies hitting the ground. Oh god, what did he do?

Ripping the blankets off him, he stumbled off the bed to the other one and tore the blanket off of the other bed to find… Charles.

He was dead, the pale skin almost blending into the stark white blankets. Dead, Charles, this was what he was afraid of. He'd hurt him, not just hurt him, but killed him. He panicked. _What did I DO._ He ran out of the room, head spinning around, trying to find someone he knew. He needed to find out what he did. The few students there that saw him avoided him. He probably looked crazy, but he to confirm his suspicions, he was scared that he was correct. Then, he saw Ororo walking ahead of him. Running to her, he called out her name. She looked back at him and froze.

"What happened, what did I do?" He asked, breathing hard.

"T-tony?" She said, looking at him like she couldn't believe she was seeing him.

"Yes," He said impatiently. "What happened, I saw Charles, What. Did. I. Do." he said desperate for answers. He needed to know, needed someone to say he was wrong.

"I- You… You are supposed to be dead." She whispered, looking down. Tony's ears strained to hear her.

"What?" He shouted, the heads of students around them turning around to listen to their conversation. Softer he whispered, "What do you mean I'm supposed to be dead."

"You and Charles… w-we found your bodies in the living room. The room was ruined. We f-felt a shock blast and went to see what was going on. Everything was vaporized and you two were lying in the middle of the room… dead. You, how are you alive?" She said in wonderment. How was he alive, he didn't know. Multiple times he almost died, but didn't. This time too apparently.

"I don't think I died. I don't know what's happening, right now, but I got an idea. Get Jean and come to the medical wing as quickly as you can. I have to try as least," Tony said, his thoughts racing. "Go," He shouted at her as he dashed back the way he was coming from.

Gasping, he reached the wing and sprinted to Charles body. "Tony! How-" He heard a voice behind him. "Shhh," He said, looking back to Jean who ran in with Storm, both of them looking horrified by the body. "I need you to focus on his mind and tell me if you see anything, I'm going to try something." He ordered, standing next to the bed. Focusing on Charles, he fanned his mind over the body. Dead, there was no life that he could feel. But, before, after he took life out of something, there was a small bit from where their… life string was. It was weird. He would sever it, but it was never complete enough so there was a little strand from the original string that was left behind. _A little bit of life, not capable of sustaining life. _Charles should have one as he knew he killed him. _It was an accident, It wasn't my fault… It was, but I will fix this. _Determined, he looked around and found it on the small of his back. _I'm sorry Charles. _He took a breath and grabbing his shoulder, he flipped Charles around.

"What are you doing?" Jean gasped, panicking.

"It's fine, I need access to… never mind, i need him like this," He said, hands shaking now. He'd never done this before and he was scared. Scared he would do it wrong, heck, he didn't even know if it was possible, he might turn out to be a zombie or something. He had to try though. It was all he could do, for Charles. When he focused on the life force of a creature, he saw the other cut strings laying around him. The air and ground was always covered in these fine, nearly invisible strands. He had a theory that they were the strings of those dead. Focusing his mind, he thought of Charles. His serious, but clever nature, what he meant to Tony, everything he could remember about him. Thinking about those memories, he saw one strand shining bright. Usually that was only for those alive, so he assumed he was progressing properly. Taking that strand, his hands hovered over the body. God, he hoped this was going to work. Breathing in he brought the two points together and twisted, binding them together. Holding his breath, he backed away.

"Ok Jean, check now for me." He said. She scrunched up her brows and stared at Charles. Seconds past and Tony was beginning to lose hope. Then, his mind alerted him of another life force at the same time that Jean gasped. Both of them rushed forward to Charles. He was still not moving, but both could feel his mind working. Then, Charles groaned, arms automatically pressing against the bed to try and flip himself over, Tony watched as Jean grabbed him and helped move him into a better position.

He started walking away. Charles was safe, for now, but as long as Tony stayed, there was still a risk of Tony having an… accident again. He was never going to hurt him again, he wouldn't be able to hold himself to anything else, but to do that, he had to leave. Charles was not safe if Tony was here. Gazing to Jean and Storm next to the Professor talking to him warmed Tony's heart. They were going to be okay. He didn't know about himself, but it was for the better.

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"Tony, TONY!" Rhodey shouted in his ear.

"What!" Tony said, head snapping to face his best friend.

"Were you listening to anything I was saying?" He asked.

"No..." Tony said sheepishly.

Rhodey sighed. "What were you thinking about."

"Nothing," Tony immediately responded. It was his default answer. Nothing, but there was always something behind it. Right then, he was thinking about the X-men. It was on his mind often. How Charles was doing now, if they would ever forgive him. Tony hoped so. He didn't respond to any of the texts they sent him, but he did give money to them. Annually, he probably gave them 5 million or so. It was all he could give without being suspicious. The donations were anonymous but Tony suspected that they knew it was him. It was others that he was worried about. Howard was a very public mutants protestant, it would be suspicious if people found out that his son, who everyone thought had the same ideals was donating money to the biggest mutant group in the world.

"Of course it's nothing," Rhodey muttered, bringing Tony back into the present.

"What do you mean by that," Tony asked, pretending to be hurt, "I'm always honest with you." He grinned, knowing Rhodes knew he was lying. Even with Rhodes being his best friend, he still couldn't be trusted, he was with the military of course and Tony was cautious with them, even before he signed the contract to continue supplying them with weapons. He knew, if the time came that people found out of his powers, there was a big possibility that Rhodey would go after him if the military wanted to capture him. He was a very loyal person, more so to humanity than to the egotistical billionaire.

"No you're not," Rhodes chided.

"Yea I-" He started, but stopped when he heard his phone ringing. Taking it out of his pocket, he saw that Obie was calling. Putting it to his ear he answered the call.

Rhodey looked at Tony as he was on the call, seeing his calm face transform into annoyance.

"Yea yea, fine, just this one though. I have other things to do than these little demonstrations." He said into the phone and then ended the call.

He sighed. "Well, I guess I'll see you in a bit." He said, getting up from his position on the sofa.

"Where are you going?" Rhodey asked, looking up at him.

"Obie wants me to go to this weapons demonstration in Afghanistan. He's busy and can't go." Tony said, irritation clear in his voice. "I gotta go, the plane is leaving soon."

Just then, Rhodey got a text on his phone, glancing at it he grinned. "Well, I guess I'm coming too." At Tony's confused expression, he showed him the text. "I've been assigned to protect you."

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A/N so, again a reminder for anyone that has read CYLM, my FrostIron fic, if you want a follow-up story, you have to tell me. Send me a message and I will happily write more of that story. I have other stories in my queue. If you haven't read that, you can and then tell me if you want a follow-up


	5. DBYCLC 5

A/N Hi so, this chapter is a little boring, I'm sorry. I couldn't think about how to do this chapter, it probably will get better next chapter, idk :]

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"Hey Tony," Rhodes said, calling out to him as the door shut on the car.

Tony stuck his head out the window and grinned. "I'm sorry, this is the fun-vi, the hum-drum-vi is back there."

"Nice job," Rhodes said curtly.

"See you back at base," Tony nodded, head ducking back into the car. They had just finished the weapons demonstration for the Jericho and Tony was feeling merry. He evaluated the presentation and thought it went pretty well. There would probably be some couple hundred million dollars more in his bank account soon, if this went well, not that he needed more.

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"Is it cool if I take a picture with you?" the guy next to him tentatively asked.

"Yes, it's very cool," Tony said, grinning at him. Finally, they were getting somewhere. The ride at first was just silence, well except for the music on the stereo and the crunch of road beneath the wheels. The other 3 people on with him were all silent until Tony started prodding them and they started a conversation. Smiling, the guy fumbled around in his pocket, bringing out a little camera. Giving it to the person in shotgun, he leaned over, waving the peace sign.

"Please, no gang signs," Tony said. The guy's smile faltered and he put his hand down. Looking at him, he sighed, "No throw it up, I'm kidding. Yea peace, I love peace. I'll be out of a job with peace."

The guy taking the picture seemed to be confused with how to work it. "Comeon, come on. You just click it, don't change any settings, yea-" The guy next to him said, until the car in front of them blew up in flames. They instantly stopped, Tony panicking. Was that him, did he drink too much? Clearly not though as they heard gunshots through the air. The driver got out, but was instantly shot dead on his feet. "Son of a-" the other guy in the front said, getting out too. Taking position outside, he started firing, but a bomb blew him to bits. Tony closed his eyes. So much death. He could feel the strings snapping all around him, the faint twang as their life force snapped. The guy beside him started moving out as well. "No, don't-" He shouted, but he had closed the door behind him. Right after he turned around to face the enemy, he was shot, bullets piercing the windows.

Tony's ears were ringing as he fumbled for the door handle. Instinct took over from rational behavior and he ran outside. Ducking under another bomb, he stumbled away from the fighting, trying to get away. Hiding behind a rock, he took out his phone, trying to text Rhodey, then a rocket planted itself in the dirt beside him. Stark Industries, it read. Fumbling to get up, he yelled as the bomb threw him in the air. Pain blossomed in his chest as he tore the shirt apart. Gasping, he looked down, jagged pieces of metal were embedded into his chest, the sharp metal piercing through the bullet-proof vest he was wearing. Losing consciousness fast, he cursed himself for not riding with Rhodes.

•v••Ω••v••Ω••v•

Pain, so much pain. His chest felt like it was on fire. Pain. People holding him down, tweezers sticking into his chest pulling at bits of burnt skin and metal. Pain. Faces crowding around him. Pain. He screamed and kicked, trying to get out of their hold. Pain. Tears streaming down his face as they cut into his chest. Pain. Bones removed from the ever-growing chest cavity. Pain. Metal inserted into the chamber, constricting the raw flesh. PAIN. Too much to handle for him, closing his eyes he fell into the darkness.

•v••Ω••v••Ω••v•

Opening his eyes he gasped. Everything hurt, especially his chest. It felt like someone had taken off the skin with sandpaper then stabbed him, then left the serrated knife in the middle of his chest and then ran sandpaper over it again just to scrape the raw skin. It was pure agony. Looking around, he found they were in a cave, the fire in the corner was one of the only things lighting it. There were feeble little lights bolted to the sides but they didn't give off that much light. Sighing, he turned his head to the side, spotting a glass of water next to a jug, he tried to grab it. Tried and failed. His hands shook, tipping the cup over the edge of the table and spilling the water. Coughing, he looked around to see another man, leaning over a mirror. He was shaving and humming, _humming_. This guy was a lunatic. He rolled to his side to try and grab the jug, he found he couldn't, there was something restraining him. were cables running out of his chest.

"I wouldn't if I were you," the other man said, looking at him through the mirror. Rolling back over, he saw a car battery, grabbing one of the cables, he followed it to where it tucked under bandages on his chest. He panicked, obviously. He tore open the fabric to reveal, a cylinder of metal sticking out of his chest. Sitting up, careful not to disturb the wires. The man was stirring food in a pan, whistling now. "What the hell did you do to me," he croaked.

"What did I do? What I did was to save your life." He said, looking at Tony. "I removed all the shrapnel I could, there's a lot left. It's headed up your atrial septum. Here, wanna see?" He called out, grabbing a vial of something and jiggling it. "Souvenir. Take a look." He tossed it at him. Tony grabbed the vial and rolling it in his hands, saw little bits of metal in them. "I've seen many wounds like that in my village. We call them the 'walking dead', because it takes about a week for the metal to reach the vital organs."

"What is this?" Tony said, gesturing at the hunk of metal in his chest.

"That is an electromagnet hooked up to a car battery, and it's keeping the shrapnel from entering your heart." The guy said.

•v••Ω••v••Ω••v•

The week progressed quickly. After they made the arc reactor and put it within Tony, they focused on making the suit. Piece by piece it was constructed. Tony worked on the armor as Yinsen helped with the electronics.

Soon came the time for them to escape and Tony had to put it on. Since it was the first time that Tony had made something like this, including that he made it in a cave, he was apprehensive of putting the hunk of metal on. It had to be done though, with little time before the captors found out of their plan, he got ready to get in.

Soon came the time for them to escape and Tony had to put it on. First Tony put on a coat and then gloves and a scarf. The metal would chaif the skin, so they had to cover as much exposed skin as they could. Praying that it would work, he stepped under the chest plate and into it. Then the arms and legs were attached. Not having any other way to put it on, Yinsen screwed everything straight onto Tony. Working through the night, they finally assembled the final suit. Welded together sheets of metal, connected wires, checked hidden points for the bombs and fuel they put in it. The only problem, the didn't anticipate the time it took to power it up. It was agonizingly slow. They heard the yells getting louder and louder to them from the entrance to the cave. The captors just realized what they were up to. Well, it took them a while, they weren't the smartest, but Tony wished they could have waited a little bit before attacking them, wishful thinking, they wouldn't wait.

"We need more time," Yinsen muttered, looking at the progress bar, then to Tony, who couldn't move under the weight of the suit, then looked back to the entrance. "I'm going to buy you some time."

"Stick to the plan, stick to the plan," Tony said, watching as Yinsen ran, grabbing a gun and started firing. "YINSEN!" He yelled. He was going to get himself killed. He watched as the progress bar slowly inched its way across the screen as shots were heard outside. Finally, the power upload was complete and Tony tore himself out of the wires to the computer and ran out. He swung his arms out, knocking two guys to the walls. He could feel the life snap out of them. A third started firing at him, but the bullets didn't pierce the thick metal. He stepped forward and punched him, knocking him back and instantly killing him. He knew that if these guys got to him, it must mean that Yinsen is dead, dying, or he had escaped. He hoped it was the latter, but calculating it in his head, there was less than a 1% chance that he survived up till now. Walking through the tunnel, he beat down every guy that came across him, making sure that each one died, if they didn't, Tony mentally killed them. It might look suspicious if they carefully looked at the bodies, but there was so much blood and bodies that Tony suspected they wouldn't find out. After all, how could Tony Stark be a mutant? Walking out, he saw daylight… and Yinsen.

"Yinsen!" He called out to the body laying on some bags of wheat.

"Watch out!" He cried out. Tony then saw the other guy and leaned to the side as he fired. The wall exploded. He fired back, knocking the ceiling down on him and after he checked that he was dead with his mind, he ran over to the bleeding Yinsen, opening his faceplate.

"Come on, we gotta go, we got a plan, we got to stick to it," Tony said, breathing heavily.

"This was always the plan Stark," He said, struggling to put words together.

"Come on, you got to go see your family," Tony muttered, desperate. He should have stuck with the plan, he wouldn't be dying if he had just-

"My family is dead," Yinsen managed. "I'm going to see them now Stark. It's ok, it's ok, I want this."

"Thank you for saving me," Tony said, looking down sadly at him.

"Don't waste it, don't waste your life," Yinsen whispered, head listing to the side as he died.

Standing up, he took a shuddering breath as he brought his faceplate down. Don't waste it. _I won't. _He proceeded to kill as many people as he could, taking out all the SI weapons he saw with the flamethrowers in his arms. Managing to escape just in time for the camp to blow, the suit broke apart around him.

•v••Ω••v••Ω••v•

He had been walking for hours in the harsh desert when he heard it. The wind whipped the sand around him, covering him in the rough grains. Looking up, he saw a helicopter coming towards him. Thank the gods for it, if he had to go any longer, he probably would have given up, the only reason he had made it so far was because of Yinsen, so that he didn't die for nothing, so that at least one of them made it out. So his sacrifice was not made in vain. Not caring if it was his captors or if Pepper had finally found him, he waved his coat to it, yelling. As it landed, Tony fell to his knees, smiling tiredly as he saw Rhodey running towards him. He knew he was going to be ok.

•v••Ω••v••Ω••v•

A/N To all you amazing people that have read this far, thank you! I don't know why im writing these except that you guys are so kind and amazing! I enjoy writing for you people, hope you have enjoyed this story so far. I'm looking forward to finishing it and writing more. Thanks again for the support!


	6. DBYCLC 6

A/N sorry for how short it is, I hope you liked this fic!

•v••Ω••v••Ω••v•

_Big man in a suit of armor, take that away, what are you?_

Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, _mutant. _Not that anybody knew or cared. Steve Rogers, the great Captain America, the nation's idol, his dad's greatest success, didn't see him as worthy. He wanted to think he didn't care about what Steve thought, or what others thought about him, but he would be lying to himself. He changed _because_ of what others said. Don't waste your life- Yinsen. He tried, he really did. He became Iron man, saved a bunch of people. He didn't go, as much, to parties and he tried to stay loyal to Pepper. He did his best, but his best was always never enough.

_I know men worth ten of you._

Steve knew a lot of brave people willing to risk their lives for others. He knew he was never going to meet Steve's standards, ever. Life always made it so that the people he most wanted to please, never approved of him. Howard, his dad, was always too busy and hated Tony. He passed school and got dozens of degrees by 18, but by then, he had died, never saying that he was proud of him. Charles, who he had _killed,_ who probably hated him for leaving. Yinsen saw the broken man and tried to save him, but he would never be able to ask if he was proud of his accomplishments and how far he had gone to make himself better as he had died and Tony wasn't powerful enough to save him. Pepper, who still probably thought he was crazy, Steve who thought he was too self-centered to care for others. Fury who didn't trust him for what he was in the past. People, people he knew and sometimes loved, pushing him away because of who he was or who they thought of him to be.

_We will only like to use you as a consultant. _

Fury didn't trust him enough to put him on the little team he was putting together. It wasn't that he wanted to be on one, its that he wasn't trusted to. Wasn't smart enough, wasn't strong enough, isn't good enough. Every single time, he never made the cut, always, people forgot that he'd survived this long, that he could _help. _Just an egotistical, self-destructive, narcissist. It didn't help that no one really tried to see who he was, they always assumed that he didn't care about others, his surroundings, himself. He tried so _damn_ hard, but always, they saw what they wanted to.

He had done so much, so much to try and right himself and do something good, and no one cared. If they cared, they would look at him and see a man who tried, tried but never succeeded. They would see someone willing to help and someone who cared, truly, for those around him. He tried too much, and that led him to put his walls up, you can only be so vulnerable if you tried not to care. He got drunk, drowning himself to pretend that he didn't feel lost, he left others to not feel left out, but nobody knows that. Anybody that did doesn't know him now.

Tony hit the table, groaning and burying his head in his hands. Foolish to think they would care, foolish.

•v••Ω••v••Ω••v•

"Shawarma anyone?" Tony asked, looking at the other Avengers, inwardly grimacing at his attempt at relieving the tension in the air. They were all exhausted from the fight. Tony more so than he let on. When he was on the other side of the portal, he felt truly helpless. Dying there and then, yes people might mourn, but without knowing him. They would be mourning someone that didn't exist.

Tony wrapped himself into his image to where even Pepper didn't know him. It had felt safe, he felt _good_ when he wasn't thinking about what people thought of him, that people couldn't harm him because they didn't know him, but then, as he watched the alien ship explode, he realized, he had gone so much into trying to protect himself, that he was becoming the person he pretended to be. He wasn't the person he was before, having put up his public personality so often that he started living like that. He was still scared of revealing himself, but had slowly become who he was before again. He was arrogant, and more times than not, he didn't care. It was consuming him. He realized that as he fell back to earth, gasping from the loss of oxygen. As he lost consciousness, all he had wished for was that he could survive this, and get at least someone, anyone, to listen, so he could finally let go and be at peace with his mind and life.

Now, he was back on the ground and the other Avengers had killed the rest of the Chitari and closed the portal. There was a lot of damage and lots of the buildings were reduced to rubble, but somehow, as if by a miracle, they found a small shawarma restaurant that was still open. He smiled, this is a new era for him, he would change, allow people to get closer, try and show himself to people he cared about. Whatever it took, he would try and take a turn for the better and hopefully, it would. He took this realization as a chance from whatever gods that he could finally have something that he'd never had before, acceptance.

•v••Ω••v••Ω••v•

A/N Another part of this story is going to be posted soon, look forward to it, please. Love yourself!

-Stironstep


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